Private group may try to launch humans to Mars in five years

On Wednesday afternoon a space communications firm, the Griffin Communications Group, sent out a news release touting what appears to be an incredibly ambitious venture: a private human mission to Mars that would launch in 2018. No specific information was provided, however.

The Inspiration Mars Foundation will hold a news conference next Wednesday to discuss the venture, which is being led by Dennis Tito, the first private human spaceflight participant.

Tito in 2001.

From the news release:

The Inspiration Mars Foundation, a newly formed nonprofit organization led by American space traveler and entrepreneur Dennis Tito, invites you to attend a press conference detailing its plans to take advantage of a unique window of opportunity to launch an historic journey to Mars and back in 501 days, starting in January 2018. This “Mission for America” will generate new knowledge, experience and momentum for the next great era of space exploration. It is intended to encourage all Americans to believe again, in doing the hard things that make our nation great, while inspiring youth through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and motivation.

The Inspiration Mars Foundation is committed to accelerating America’s human exploration of space as a critical catalyst for future growth, national prosperity, new knowledge and global leadership.

Among the participants in the news conference is Dr. Jonathan Clark, associate professor of Neurology and Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and space medicine adviser for the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. This is a clue: he would be there to speak about long-duration human spaceflight.

It is not clear whether this would be a fly-by, which seems most likely, or an actual trip to the surface of the red planet.

In either case I would love for this to be true. To have private spaceflight eclipse what government agencies are doing with human spaceflight would truly change the game in terms of opening up space to more people, including myself.

However, with that being said, five years is a wickedly short time when it comes to designing, building, testing and flying the hardware needed to get humans to and from Mars. And this stuff ain’t cheap. Or for the risk-averse.

Needless to say I’m skeptical, but I certainly wish them luck and I’ll be following the news conference.